Blueridge

Blueridge BR-40 – Less Bling. More Bang. Quite a Lot of Guitar.

This is the workhorse of the Blueridge Contemporary Series: a proper dreadnought acoustic with a solid Sitka spruce top, mahogany back and sides, pre-war-style forward-shifted bracing and enough volume to make your neighbours reconsider their life choices.

It's not trying to be a museum piece. It's not covered in abalone from headstock to endpin. And it certainly isn't interested in impressing people who spend more time discussing guitars than actually playing them.

Solid spruce. Mahogany. Sorted.

The recipe is wonderfully traditional: solid Sitka spruce on top, mahogany back and sides and a mahogany neck.

The Sitka spruce gives the BR-40 plenty of clarity, headroom and projection, while the mahogany brings the warmth and punch. The result is a balanced, articulate dreadnought that works particularly well for strumming, singer-songwriter duties, blues, country and pretty much anything involving six strings and a good song.

And then Blueridge does something rather clever.

The BR-40 gets authentic pre-war-style forward-shifted scalloped X-bracing. That's a feature you normally expect to see on considerably more expensive instruments, and it helps give this relatively modestly priced guitar a surprisingly lively and responsive voice.

In other words: the BR-40 may be the affordable Blueridge, but it doesn't sound like it got the memo.

Vintage looks. Sensible attitude.

The BR-40 keeps the aesthetics suitably old-school.

You've got multi-ply body binding, a black pickguard, mother-of-pearl position markers, a rosewood fingerboard and bridge, a rosewood headstock overlay and vintage-style nickel-plated open-gear tuners with butterbean buttons.

Nothing excessive. Nothing trying too hard.

Just enough vintage flavour to make you want to put on a flannel shirt and start writing about trains.

The low-profile mahogany neck is another strong point. Comfortable, familiar and easy to get around on, it makes this big dreadnought surprisingly friendly in the hands.

Our verdict

The BR-40 is a guitar for people who want to play guitar rather than own a guitar-shaped investment portfolio.

It has the big dreadnought body, the solid spruce top, the mahogany warmth and the pre-war bracing recipe. Add a comfortable neck and a sensible price tag and you've got one of those instruments that makes a lot of sense.

It's not fancy. It's not trying to be. It's just a bloody good guitar.

And frankly, that's often the best kind.

Important Specifications

• Model: Blueridge BR-40

• Series: Contemporary Series

• Body: Dreadnought, 14-fret

• Top: Select solid Sitka spruce

• Back & Sides: Mahogany

• Bracing: Authentic pre-war-style, forward-shifted scalloped X-bracing

• Neck: Mahogany, low-profile

• Fingerboard: Santos/East Indian rosewood

• Bridge: Rosewood

• Neck Joint: Traditional dovetail

• Scale Length: 25.6" / 650 mm

• Nut Width: 1-11/16" / approx. 43 mm

• Nut & Saddle: Bone

• Frets: 20, with 14 clear of the body

• Tuners: Nickel-plated vintage-style open gear, 14:1 ratio, butterbean buttons

• Fingerboard Inlays: Mother-of-pearl dots

• Headstock Overlay: Rosewood

• Pickguard: Black

• Binding: Multi-ply body binding

• Finish: Natural high-gloss

• Electronics: None

• Strings: 6